With the Galaxy S25 family holding fewer and fewer secrets ahead of an expected early 2025 launch and this year’s state-of-the-art Galaxy S24 Ultra available at a new record low price sans any special requirements from Best Buy, most Android power users enamored with Samsung phones wouldn’t be caught dead even thinking about the Galaxy S23 these days.
But if you can’t dream of affording the company’s latest super-flagship anytime soon and don’t think the S24 or S24+ will fall into your budget during Amazon’s Prime Day 2024 extravaganza this week either, last year’s 6.1-inch high-ender with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor under the hood could well hit the spot right now.
That’s because both Amazon and Best Buy are charging 150 bucks less than usual at the time of this writing for an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S23 with 128GB storage. You don’t need a Prime membership or anything else to take advantage of this sweet new deal on an exquisitely compact Android powerhouse with excellent cameras and solid battery life, and because the S23’s $699.99 list price has been permanently discounted by $100 after the S24 series release, the device is now remarkably cheaper than the S23 FE.
While the Fan Edition is newer and bigger than the “regular” Galaxy S23, this is still without a doubt the better phone all in all, thanks to that aforementioned Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, as well as a superior triple rear-facing camera system, a more robust “Armor Aluminum” frame, and a prettier design with a thinner profile.
At its lower-than-ever price, the 6.1-inch S23 undercuts Google’s “vanilla” Pixel 8 (at least for the time being) while continuing to cost more than the heavyweight OnePlus 12R value champion. If you’re a hardcore Samsung fan on a relatively tight budget, the Galaxy S23 can definitely be a smarter option than the S24 (which is not a lot better anyway)… as long as you’re not that strapped for cash that you need to go with a Galaxy A54 5G mid-ranger or an even humbler Galaxy A25 5G.
